Even Rocks Can Break
by andthencomeslight
Summary: The undocumented saga of Tifa and Rude from the beginning. After Tifa recovered from her almost fatal run in with Sephiroth, she met a tall quiet Turk that changed everything. Staying in canon, so lots of Cloud confusion and Barret/Reno friendship, too
1. Chapter 1: Discharged

Fire.

Smoke.

Sephiroth.

Those are Tifa Lockhart's last memories of her hometown. Of Nibelhiem. And she will hate all of it until her dying breath: Sephiroth... SOLDIER... Mako Reactors... Shin-Ra...

That was the last thing she said to Zack. Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st Class who had never heard of Cloud Strife. He went after Sephiroth and she might never get the chance to say thank you.

Zangan refused to talk about what happened. "It will only trouble you, Tifa-_kun_. Now, you need rest. You have had enough pain." He would stroke her hair until she fell asleep and hang the _yaku-yoke _he made on the bed frame so that no more evil would hurt his prodige.

When her teacher left Midgar, so did any hope of getting answers. She'll be 18 in two weeks, but today, she's 17 and all alone; a stranger in a strange land surrounded by Shin-Ra and mako and everything she hates. Still, there could be worse things than relocating to the Sector 7 slums. She always wanted experience life outside of Nibelheim. She just never dreamed she'd leave the town in ashes.

And Cloud...

Where could he be? She wishes now more than ever that her hero would come and rescue her. With deep sigh, she gathers the rest of her belongings from within the sterile hospital room. "This is your fresh start," she tells her reflection.

She lets the water run for a second feeling is rush out smooth and cool on her hands. Lowering her face, she carefully avoids her hair and lets her fingers linger covering her eyes and cheeks. Staring ahead she wills her fears away to make room for a fresh wave of optimism. She will make a new life in Midgar.

As Tifa walked out of the medical center, suffice it to say a few heads turned. Intimidated but reassured, she walked down the steel steps that she hoped would lead her where she needed to go. She noticed two men in blue suits and hoped they could lead her in the right direction, and that's when he saw her.

"Come on, Rude, I'm starved." Reno was getting impatient. "What the hell are ya starin at?" he asked, but then he saw her, too. She was walking toward them and Rude seemed to have lost the ability to move or speak. "Good luck with that, pal," Reno said as he patted his partner on the back and walked on ahead of him.

"Excuse me," she said smiling brightly, "Do you know how I can get to Sector 7 from her?" Her doe eyes blinked up at him.

"..." Yes, you do know, Rude said to himself. "Uhh... it's just down that way. The rail system… but it's dangerous." he managed to stumble. "Lots of, creatures. You know, Mako."

"Oh, I know," she said cooly as she flashed her brass knuckles with a wink, "I think I'll manage, mister...?"

"... … …" She turned her head in speculation before he uttered, "Rude."

"Well, Rude, unfortunately, this isn't my first rodeo, but thanks for the warning."

She started to walk away but stopped, turned back toward him and said with a smile, "I'm Tifa by the way. See you."

And with that, she ran off to make the next elevator and waved at him through the glass as it descended to the slums. "Tifa," he whispered to himself as he made a mental note to spend more time in Sector 7.


	2. Chapter 2: AVALANCHE

Tifa entered 7th Heaven and looked for the man with the gun arm. The bar was as crowded as she was exhausted, but she perked up to make a good first impression. She heard whispers in the hospital that AVALANCHE's hideout was just under those squeaky floorboards and hoped that her sources didn't fail her.

"Marlene, get over here!" She looked towards the source of that fatherly yell and saw him. Barret Wallace, the man with the gun arm, bent down as a little girl ran towards him.

"Yes, daddy," she said gleefully hopping into his arms.

He lifted her onto his broad shoulders and lowered his voice, "I told you not to play near the pinball machine when there are strangers here. You know we got a secret to keep."

"Sorry, daddy," she said planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Hi there, Mr. Wallace?"

Barret turned and looked down to see a bubbly little Lockhart smiling up at him. "Who's Mr. Wallace? The name's Barret," he said letting Marlene down behind the bar.

"Hello, Barret. I'm Tifa Lockhart," she said extending her hand before remembering his lack of a right one and awkwardly grabbing her ponytail to compensate. "So, I heard you were looking for a new bartender and maybe... a new recruit..."

There was no mistaking her tone, but he had never seen her before and, he didn't trust anybody outside of AVALANCHE. Could she be a Shinra spy? "Why haven't I seen you around here before," he asked. "You from the plate?"

"No, I... I'm from Nibelheim," she said losing some of her enthusiasm.

"Well, what makes you think-"

But before Barret could get anything out of her, a fight broke out. In typical Secotr 7 fashion, some drunk punched another and now a whole group was at each other's throats. Always one to seize an opportunity, Tifa pounced and punched her way through the group of idiots that decided to interrupt her "interview." When five grown men were on their backs, the rest of the bar quietly applauded simultaneously impressed and terrified.

She walked back over to the bar, cracked her knuckles and asked with a smirk, "How's that for qualified?"

That was perfect. That was all the confirmation he needed. She was definitely trained, but there was spunk and spirit behind each punch that would've been drilled out of her in any sort of Shinra training. The kind of spunk a real fighter needed. The kind of spirit AVALANCHE needed.

Barret remained serious. He turned and yelled at the rest of the patrons, "All right, everybody out. Next time you, mother#$%$& better think twice before starting a fight in 7th Heaven!"

Everyone scrambled out, some of them carried the ruffians Tifa had crushed. When the last bunch was out of sight, Barret turned around with a stupid grin plastered on his face.

"Goddamn, girl. I ain't seen someone kick around a mother%$#&*# like that in a long ass time." He slapped the table, genuinely excited for the first time in ages. This was just the girl he needed. "Biggs, Wedge, Jesse, get the hell up here," he yelled over Tifa's head.

The pinball machine descended and returned with the rest of the team, wearing smiles as big as Barret's. He put an arm around his new girl wonder and beamed at his team.

"Say hello to Tifa Lockhart, the newest member of AVALANCHE."


	3. Chapter 3: The Turks

"We've got a meeting with the director in ten."

Reno popped his head into the kitchenette as Rude fixed himself a cup of coffee. It was getting late and they had been swamped with paperwork all day. He hoped for some sort of an assignment.

"..."

"So I'll see you there," Reno said as he rushed off.

It had been two months since he met Tifa and he still hadn't gotten the nerve to head down to Sector 7. But why would he? It's not like free time is built into his profession. Turks don't exactly have weekends built into their schedules. He took a sip out of his plain white mug.

Bitter.

That was the norm. The bitter reality of life at Shinra, Inc. Sure, Reno made things bearable, but a man cannot live on bromance alone. The pay check helped, and the benefits, especially compared to life under the plate... at least things had quieted down after Sephiroth disappeared into the Lifestream. Now, those were not time's he wanted to revisit.

Another long sip of coffee and he remembers his meeting.

Tseng handed a manilla folder to each Reno and Rude. He was his usual shade of serious. "There are whispers of a rebel group... take care of it," as almost an afterthought. He waded through several letters addressed to "Zack Fair," preoccupied with this rather than briefing the pair.

Reno fliped through the intelligence report and found a list of suspect and hollered when he landed on a familiar face. "HA! Rude, I don't believe it! Looks like we're gonna spy on your girlfriend."

"Reno!" Rude was mortified, but when he saw Tifa's face in that report, his whole body was flooded with excitement and dread.

"What's that?" Tseng asked, only half interested.

"Nothing, sir, we'll take care of this," Rude answered.

He got up to leave, but Tseng stopped him. "Make this as quiet and painless as you can, guys. We don't need another crisis to manage."

"I hear ya," said Reno and all their thoughts moved toward the tragic outcome of the last four SOLDIERS, 1st Class that Shinra was once so proud of. "This won't even be a blip on the radar, chief."

As they left the Shinra building, Reno slowed down to a halt and scratched his head before muttering, "you go ahead." Rude turned to his partner and let a moment of silence sink in. "You can handle it on your own, can't you?"

Rude felt a little confused, a little grateful and a little nervous. He nodded his head and remembered why Reno was his only friend. The red haired devil extended a hand and patted the baldy on the back.

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do," he said walking away.

"That doesn't leave much," Rude yelled after him.


End file.
